Cinderella and Charming
by DesolateBeauty
Summary: The story of Cinderella but with a grumpy stable boy and a prince that isn't looking for a wife.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than Nicholas and Stephan**_

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a girl named Ella. Ella was a lovely child with a very sweet disposition that never met a soul she could not charm. Her father loved her very much but her mother had died in child birth and left her motherless. Ella did not mind not having a mother, how could she when she never knew what it was to have one.

Her father decided to remarry the Lady Tremaine and move her and her daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, into his home.

It was not much longer after his marriage that he died on a journey away from home. Ella was overcome with grief and vulnerable to her step mother's true nature.

Her stepmother dismissed all the servants and appointed Ella as their replacement. She was moved from her lovely room to the attic that was drafty and lonely. Some nights instead of climbing up to the attic she would sleep in the kitchen near the fireplace too tired after a day of doing a ridiculous amount of chores.

Mornings after nights spend sleeping by the fireplace she would wake covered in soot and ash. It was because of this that her step sisters started calling her Cinderella.

Despite all the cruelty and abuse that Ella endured at the hands of her family she remained true to her sweet nature.

Ella's life continued on as it always did until the King decided that the prince should marry. To help the Prince make a choice of which woman to marry the King decided to throw a masquerade ball and invite all the eligible women in the land.

Ella's stepmother would often send her to the village to run errands and it was there she met Nicholas who was the apprentice to the village tailor. He quickly became the only human friend that Ella ever had. Luckily for Ella she was visiting her friend Nicholas in the village when the announcements were made about the ball. Ella ardently wished that she could go to the ball but she knew that her stepmother would never allow it.

Nicholas told Ella that if she could get him an old dress of her mother's then he could fix it up so that she could wear it to the ball and they could go together. Ella was excited but weary about this plan. She knew to pull it off that she would need to be careful not to be caught by her stepmother or stepsisters. It was with this in mind that Ella carefully found her mother's old clothing and smuggled a beautiful gown to Nicholas to fix up.

This was easier than she had thought it would be because her stepmother sent her to the village very often in preparation for the ball. Ella was sent to buy many different dresses, shoes, masks and jewelry for her stepfamily. They were unsatisfied with almost everything that Ella brought home for them and would berate her for it.

She did not let their cruel words upset her, no matter how awful they were. Nicholas informed her that despite all the work that the tailor had him helping with, he was almost done with her dress. Ella was very grateful to her friend for his help but she still had yet to find a way to get a mask for the ball. She knew her stepfamily had many that she had purchased for them but was afraid if she used one of them they would recognize it.

Ella was anxious about the amount of money that was being used to purchase all these things for she was sure they did not have the funds for them. The Lady Tremaine however would not hear any protests and sent Ella out yet again for more things for the ball. It was here that she ran into the grumpiest boy she had ever met.

She was looking at masks when she spotted the perfect one for her gown. She stared forlornly at the mask knowing that there was no way that she could purchase it. Ella moved on quickly to get a mask for Anastasia since she had decided that none of the others would do. The lady selling the masks asked why Ella had not purchased the one that she obviously wanted. Ella politely replied that while the mask was very beautiful she was not purchasing one for herself.

From there Ella decided that she would stop and see her friend but she had not gone far when someone bumped into her and knocked her over causing her to drop all of her parcels. When Ella recovered from the shock of being knocked over she turned to see if the person who ran into her was okay. It was a very handsome boy about her age that looked quite disgruntled about the whole exchange despite it being his own fault.

That would have been a very rude thing for Ella to point out so instead she asked after his well being. The boy grunted out an affirmative and began to pick up Ella's parcels, all the while looking very grumpy indeed. By the time Ella was back on her feet he had picked up all of her things and thrust them into her arms. Before Ella could thank him he turned away and ran off.

When Ella got to the tailor's she told Nicholas all about the tragically grumpy but handsome stranger while dusting off the things she purchased that day. Nicholas noticed that one of the purchases had fallen on the floor and he picked it up for her and stared at the beautiful mask. When he returned it to Ella he lamented the fact that Anastasia would wear such a beautiful thing but Ella was staring confusedly at the mask.

It was not the one that she had bought for Anastasia but the one that she wished she could have had for herself. Ella knew for a fact that she had not bought this mask yet here it was as if by magic. When she told Nicholas all about it he suggested that Ella not question where the mask came from but instead be grateful that she had the perfect mask to match her gown. She decided to take his advice and left the mask with her friend instead of trying to hide it at home.

Soon the day of the ball had arrived and Lady Tremaine made sure to keep Ella extra busy so that she would not be able to even think of going to the ball. This of course did not work but her stepmother was not aware of Ella's plans. Ella worked extra hard and tried very hard not to get lost in day dreams about how much fun she and Nicholas would have at the ball. Her stepsisters demanded that she help them get ready for the ball all the while teasing her about how she would not be able to go to the ball. Their jabs were ignored and eventually they grew bored of making them.

To say that Ella was glad to see her stepfamily finally leave would be an understatement. As soon as they were out of sight Ella hurried to draw herself a bath as she was quite dirty from all the work of the day. While Ella was bathing Nicholas arrived and left her gown and mask where Ella would find them. Once she was done with her bath Ella retrieved her gown and mask and began to get herself ready for the ball.

Nicholas came to check on her and admired how lovely she looked but lamented her lack of shoes which made Ella run up to the attic. Nicholas was confused but followed her all the way to her attic bedroom. Ella lifted up a piece of the floor and pulled out a pair of slippers. Ella explained that it was when she was looking for the gown that she found an exquisite pair of glass slippers that miraculously fit her rather small feet. Nicholas replied to her story by telling her how lovely the slippers were and helping her put them on.

Once she was ready they made their way back downstairs and to the carriage that Nicholas had borrowed from a client for the evening. It was rather extravagant which made Ella nervous but Nicholas reassured her that it would be quite all right and that they should discuss when they should leave the ball. They decided that midnight would be their best bet to leave and make it back on time before Ella's stepfamily. They arrived at the ball a bit late in all honesty and it made their entrance a little more conspicuous than they were aiming for.

Upon their arrival they caught the attention of many of the guests as well as the crown prince. Ella fidgeted but Nicholas just took her hand and led her to the dance floor and most of the guests lost interest and went back to their previous activities. Ella finally relaxed as they waltzed around the room and was having so much fun that she did not notice as someone approached the two of them.

Prince Tristan himself interrupted the two asking if he could cut in and Nicholas' eyes widened as he took in the prince. Ella watched as Nicholas began to flush red and seemed unable to verbalize his answer. Nicholas shook his head instead and extracted himself with a small bow and disappeared into the crowd.

Ella glanced at Prince Tristan who was watching Nicholas with a small frown on his face for awhile before he seemed to remember that Ella was still standing there and turned back to her. Prince Tristan seemed to gather himself before bowing and holding his hand out asking for Ella's permission to dance with her. Ella curtsied back and offered her hand.

She was swept up in dancing with the prince who asked her many strange questions, which all seemed to revolve around Nicholas. She tried to answer the best she could without giving away either of their identities, just in case word got out to her step family about her presence at the ball.

The prince was not to be deterred however and Ella was worried about giving herself away. She became anxious and starting looking for Nicholas among the crowd but realized with a sinking feeling that he was no longer in the room. Once the song ended Ella made her excuses and rushed from the room ignoring the prince who was calling for her.

She became aware that the prince was following her when she almost tripped on the stairs and lost one of her slippers. She had turned around to grab it when she saw the prince and knew she would have to leave the slipper. She turned and fled down the stairs opening to make it to the stables she saw when they had come in.

Ella managed to make it into the stables without the prince noticing where she had gone. Ella was relieved to have made it without the prince finding her and demanding to know who she was and informing her family that she was there. Ella walked further into the stables but was shocked to see someone else was there as well.

As she got closer she realized that it was the handsome and grumpy stranger she had run into the day she found the mask. When he heard her coming he looked up and she was struck yet again with how tragically good looking the boy was even though he appeared to be forever frowning. Despite the fact that he had no way of knowing that she would be here he seemed unsurprised to find her standing in the middle of the stables when she should be inside the castle at the ball.

She greeted him with a timid hello but instead of returning the sentiment he stared for another minute before commenting that he was glad to see that she had found the mask and decided to keep it. Ella was shocked to realize that the boy had bought the mask and purposely bumped into her to slip the mask among her things. When she asked him why he would do such a thing for someone he did not know he just shrugged and turned his attention to one of the horses.

Ella knew when someone did not wish to discuss a certain topic as she had been fielding questions from the prince all night and decided not to push the boy. Seeing how comfortable he was in the stables and with the horses Ella could only assume the boy worked here.

So she asked him how he liked working in the stables for the royal family and the boy let out a beautiful laugh. Ella was quite enchanted by it and hoped to hear him laugh yet again before the night was over. Instead of answering her question however he asked her about how the ball was going and if it was everything she thought it would be.

Ella answered all of his questions telling him that she had met the prince and that he had been quite charming but left out how unsettled his questions had made her. The stable boy looked reluctantly fond of the prince as he explained that he was always quite charming. This of course must have been true for the boy did not seem the type to give praise freely. The stable boy asked her if she thought the prince had seemed interested in anyone at the ball.

Ella truthfully confessed that the prince did spend quite a bit of time dancing with her and asking her odd questions that made her anxious, so she fled and he gave chase. The boy let out another one of those beautiful laughs and asked if she was hiding in the stable to avoid the prince's attentions. She blushed and told him she was hiding to avoid the prince's odd questions which made him laugh more.

Once the boy had stopped laughing he offered to introduce her to all the horses while she hid from Prince Tristan. Ella who had always loved animals followed the boy after removing her extra slipper and trying to hide it behind her back. If the boy noticed he did not mention it or laugh that lovely laugh yet again. He told her everything he knew about each horse and let her pet every one of the beautiful creatures.

As he talked Ella realized that she still had not seen him smile, despite the laughing that he had done earlier. His tone was still as disgruntled as it had been when they had run into one another in the village but Ella quite liked it. She decided then and there that she would rather talk to this boy with his seemingly bad temper than with the prince, who was quite charming. She felt sorry for all the ladies that wished to marry the prince when a boy such as this existed.

It was then that Nicholas came into the stable, covertly looking for her because it was close to midnight and they had to leave soon. When he saw Ella and the stable boy he let out a sigh of relief that she was still on the palace grounds. He had heard that Ella had run from the prince and that the prince had given chase but could not find her. The rumor was that she was a mysterious princess from another land that had captured the prince's heart.

Nicholas got Ella's attention and reminded her that they had to leave immediately if they wished to be home on time. Ella looked back at the stable boy apologetically and was going to ask him to meet her in the village again. However the boy took one look at Nicholas and told her in a restrained tone of voice it was nice to meet her. Before she could stop him he left the stable altogether without glancing back at either of them.

It was with a heavy heart that Ella followed Nicholas to the carriage. No one was looking for her anymore as they thought she had gotten away, so it was easy for them to get to the carriage. On the way home she asked Nicholas where he had gone, for she could not find him when she escaped the prince. He admitted that he had stepped out for some air and walked around the gardens for awhile. Ella wanted to tell him all about the stable boy and how he had been the one to gift the mask to her but her friend looked very melancholy.

Despite her best efforts to find out what had made her friend so upset he never did reveal its identity. Ella herself was feeling quite heartbroken at the boy's dismissal of her. She had hoped they could see each other again and perhaps learn his name and give hers in turn. Bitterly she thought that dreams and wishes were nothing more than fantasy, and reality was never kind.

Upon arriving back at her home Nicholas waited till she had changed out of her gown to take it and the mask and hide them back at his house. Before leaving he hugged her and she thanked him for the evening. Nicholas smiled at her and said he would see her soon. Ella made the long journey up to the attic, where she put the glass slipper back in its hiding place. It looked rather lonely sitting there without the other one, she thought wistfully. By the time her stepfamily came home she was fast asleep.

The next day an announcement was made that Prince Tristan was looking for a girl that had lost a glass slipper at the ball. It was decreed that every lady in the land was to try on the glass slipper and the one it fit was that lady the prince was looking for. Everyone seemed to think that when the prince found the lady he would marry her and make her his queen. So needless to say, many a woman hoped that they could fit their foot in the slipper and trick the prince into marrying them. Among these women were of course Anastasia and Drizella.

Lady Tremaine made sure to tell her girls that they would do everything in their power to make the slipper fit so that one of them could wed the prince. Ella who was heartbroken on the other hand, was not interested in marrying the prince or becoming his queen. She knew though that the prince had commanded that all the women in the kingdom were to try on the slipper. Once the prince made it to their home and saw her, he would demand that she try the slipper on despite her servant's appearance.

It was with this in mind that Ella came up with a plan to be locked away for the day that the prince arrived at her home. She started dropping hints about the ball that she could not have known without being there when her stepmother was around. She hummed the music that was playing and danced around the kitchen. Once she knew for sure that her step mother was suspicious, she started making trips to attic at random intervals during the day.

Finally her step mother followed her to find out what she was up to and Ella's plan was working perfectly. Once in her room, she removed the floorboard and took out the glass slipper making sure her step mother could see from the door way in which she stood. Lady Tremaine was furious to find out that Ella was the girl that the prince was seeking and in her rage she locked the poor girl in the attic.

Ella smiled to herself because her plan had worked perfectly and her step mother had been so angry she left the slipper. She found a new and safer hiding spot for the slipper and spent the day reading on the window seat. It was from there she watched the prince and his guards come up to the house to find the girl of his dreams. Ella laughed quietly to herself and went back to reading her book.

Unbeknownst to her the prince had tried the slipper on both girls who had promptly tried to force their too large feet into the slipper. When that did not work he even allowed their mother to try the slipper as well, even though everyone present knew her to be too old to be the girl from the ball. It was when the prince and his entourage were leaving that one of the group, a rather grumpy looking young man looked up and spotted Ella in the attic window. The young man pointed her out to the prince and they exchanged a few words before the prince headed into the house. The other young man took one last long wistful look at Ella and then turned around to mount his horse and leave as quickly as possible.

Ella was happily oblivious to all of this until she heard the footsteps coming up the attic. Panicked she looked out the window to discover that the prince was still there and obviously on his way up. She had thought that no one would look up at the window and see her but it seemed that she had been wrong. Ella could not think of anything to do to avoid the prince and his marriage proposal.

She turned to face the door as the prince himself came barreling through once it was unlocked and stared at her incredulously. Ella gaped back at him as he strode across the attic to where she was sitting. He bent down on one knee without a word. He gently lifted her bare foot and placed it in the slipper where it fit perfectly. The prince looked up at her and beamed brightly at her.

Ella lost any control she had on her emotions and began to cry in earnest which seemed to alarm the prince. He let go of her foot and took a seat beside her on the window seat and asked what had made her cry. Ella managed to get a hold of self enough to explain that she did not wish to marry the prince though he was quite charming and handsome. That she had fallen in love with a disgruntled stable boy and even though he obviously did not love her back she could not love the prince.

Once she was done telling the prince about why she had to reject him he pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her. The prince explained while she was wiping her eyes that he had not looked for her in order to marry her. As it turned out the prince was not at all interested in having a wife but would much prefer a husband. He explained that he had not told his father because he seemed too excited to throw a ball and Prince Tristan could not bear to let him down.

It was at the ball however that he saw the most gorgeous man he had ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes upon. When he went to ask the gentleman to dance there was a misunderstanding that led him to dancing with his female companion. He had tried to ask the lady about this man but she seemed to answer all of his questions evasively and finally fled. When he chased after her to explain himself and apologize all he found was a glass slipper and her escort was nowhere to be found.

No one seemed to know who the two guests had been and so the prince decided he would use the slipper to find the girl and through her, the beautiful man. At first he was worried that they might have been visiting royalty but his brother had told him that the young lady was definitely a commoner. Now that he had found her, he wished to apologize for his odd behavior and ask her if her friend might be interested in being courted by a prince.

Ella listened to his tale carefully and at the end she let out a beautiful peal of laughter and introduced herself. She told him as much as she could about Nicholas and how she was positive that he would love to be courted by a prince. Prince Tristan looked supremely happy to hear everything Ella had to say about Nicholas. He told her he felt the need to repay her for giving him such hope and for scaring her away. Ella tried to protest but the prince asked her about her stable boy.

Ella had not had anyone to discuss everything with as she had not been to see her best friend since the ball and began to tell the prince everything. When she was finished the prince burst into laughter causing Ella to become confused and hurt. Seeing the look on her face the prince sobered up and apologized explaining that he was not laughing at her.

It was then that he explained that his brother was actually an adoptive ward of the king, who hated balls but loved horses. This brother was prone to going to the village dressed as a commoner and told Prince Tristan that was how he knew the girl was a commoner.

The prince went on to say that his brother was against the ball from the very start and decided he would hide in the stables for the duration of the ball. After the ball he had confessed to his brother that he had met a beautiful girl but that he thought she was taken and if she was not she soon would be. The prince even told her it was his grumpy little brother that noticed her in the window and told him she was the girl the prince was looking for.

Ella too let out a laugh when she heard and asked if his brother was still there but the prince's reply was a negative. Tristan as he insisted that Ella call him offered to formally introduce her if she would do the same for him and Nicholas. She agreed on the condition that Tristan tell her his brother's name, as she did not know it. The prince felt that was a fare condition and told her his brother's name was Stephan.

Ella and the prince spoke more and she revealed that the house had belonged to her father and how badly she was treated at the hands of her stepfamily. Tristan was outraged on her behalf and promised to help her take back her family home, now that they were to be family. Ella was grateful but reminded him that he did not know for sure that they would be family. Tristan smiled knowingly and informed her that he knew his brother and therefore knew they would be family as soon as they cleared up the misunderstandings.

They left the house to go see Nicholas but not before the prince had his guards take Lady Tremaine and her daughters into custody. Eventually there would be a trial and Ella would ask that they be banished from the kingdom. Her wish would of course be granted, as she brought much happiness to both the king's sons, though in different ways.

When Ella and the prince walked into the tailors, Nicholas was so startled that he poked himself with the needle he was currently using. Ella could tell that once the shock worn off that Nicholas seemed sad and she finally understood. Before any more misunderstandings could cause more unhappiness she explained that the prince wished to meet him.

Nicholas' eyes widened in surprise but introduced himself and politely asked why a prince would want to make his acquaintance. Tristan smiled and explained that he wished to know the most gorgeous man he had ever seen, which made Nicholas blush a great deal.

Later Tristan took Ella to the palace and to the stables where Stephan was brushing his horse. Tristan formally introduced his brother, Stephan, to Ella, the best friend of the man he was courting. Stephan was obviously taken aback by this news but took it all in stride. Tristan and Ella explained all the misunderstandings from the ball to Stephan, who to Ella's disappointment did not laugh his beautiful laugh.

Tristan left to wander around at another end of the stable, winking at both of them. Stephan took this chance to ask if Ella was upset about Tristan not wanting to marry her. Ella let out a laugh and asked why she would want to marry a charming prince when there was a grumpy, not stable boy that might love her as she loved him. It was then that Ella saw Stephan smile for the first time and it was dazzling.

When Tristan and Nicholas got married, it was a grand affair and the whole kingdom was invited. It was clear that the king and his people where very happy for the two. When Ella and Stephan were married it the exact opposite. It was a small ceremony at her home, which the king had fixed up to its original glory as a wedding present. Ella lived everyday loved and cherished by her new family. None loved or cherished her more than her grumpy husband who grumbled and gripped about everything but still smiled just for her.

They loved each other very much and they lived happily ever after.


End file.
